Not Available This project develops and demonstrates an innovative and economic technology that uses ultrasonic energy
to destroy organisms in a ship ballast system, thereby minimizing impact from alien species introduced
from shipping. Phase 1 results successfully showed that organisms were rapidly destroyed by ultrasound
at various frequencies and power densities. Although the mechanism of destruction in an ultrasonic bath is
typically believed to be cavitation, results indicate that extremely high acceleration forces experienced by
small particles in an ultrasound field create the primary mechanism of damage. Forces (on the order of
1000's of GÂ¿s) cause individual organisms, or parts of an organism, to vibrate in resonance with sonic field,
literally ripping the organisms apart. Phase 2 efforts will build on Phase 1 successes to design and build a
full-scale prototype Shipboard Ultrasonic Ballast Water Organism Control (SUBWOC) system, which will
include a ten-foot long section of pipe sheathed in piezo-ceramic ring sound transducers. Tasks include
design and fabrication of the SUBWOC, bench testing and lab testing with 300-gallons of known organism
cultures. Thereafter, sea trials will occur aboard commercial vessels by our Industry Partners, including
Mason Navigation Company and Sause BrotherÂ¿s Tug & Barge.